C457 




Class 



Book 



Author 



Title 



Imprint 



469866 SPO 




Instfuclor LUetaiure Series— iWo. 204 




Wonojjapu 




SECOND YEAR 
Fables and Myths 

33 biories from Andersen — Taylor 

34 Stories from Cyx'irara— Taylor 

36 Ivittle Red Riding ^ood—Reiter 

37 Jack and the Beanstalk— ^c«7<?r 

38 Adventures of a Brownie — Reiter 
i76 Norse I,egends, II — Reiter 
Nature 

3 Little Workers (Animal Stories)— C/(a.5/' 

39 Lit'.le Wood Friends — Mayne 

40 Wings and Stings— /fa/z/aj: 

41 Story of Wool— ^l/ajt'we 

42 Bird Stories from the Vosts—JoUie 
History and Biography . 

43 Story of the MayflUwtJr— il/cCo^i; 
45 Boyhood of Washiijtjjon- A'/'zVrr 

164 The Little Brown* B«by and Other Babies 

165 Geniila, tlie Child of the Desert and 

Some of Her Sisters 
ie6 Louise on the Rhine and in Her New 

Home. {Nos. 164, i6s, 166 are "'Seveti 

Little Sisters" by Jane Andrews) 
204 Boyhood of Lincoln^ J?<'z7t'j' 
Literature 

1 = 2 Child's Garden oi MeLVSe.s— Stevenson 
206 Picture Study Stories for Little Children 

— Cranston 
2?o Story of the Christ Q\\\\iS.—IIushower 

THIRD YEAR 
Fables and Myths 

40 Puss in Boots and Cinderella— ^£/7^»- 

47 Greek Myths— Klingensiniih 
102 Thumbelina and Dream Stories— ^^-zV^r 
146 Sleeping Beauty and Other Stories 
177 Legends of the Rhiueland— Tl/cQ;**? 
Nsture 

49 Buds, Stems and 'Prints— Mayne 

51 Story of Flax— 7l/ffi«£ 

52 Story of Glass — Hanson 

July, 1912 



of 



Little Waterdrop 



INSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES 

Five- Cent Classics and Supplementary Readers 

AN especially fine series of little books containing material needed for Sup- 
plementary Reading and Study. Classified and g'raded. Large type for 
lower grades. A supply of these books will greatly enrich your school work. 
M^ This list is constantly being added to. If a substantial number of books are to be 
ordered, or if other titles than those shown here are desired, send for latest list. 
FIRST YEAR 
Fables and Myths 
6 FairyStoriesof theMoon.— j1/a^«/># 

27 ^sop's Fables— Part I— Reiter 

28 ^sop's Fables— Part 11— Reiter 

29 Indian Myths — Bi4sh 
140 Nursery Tales — Taylor 
1^4 Sun Myths — Reiter 
175 N rs^ Legends,!— ^ifzVer 
Natur^ 

^ Little Plant People— Part 1— Chase 
2 Little Plant People— Part 11— Chase 
30 Story of a Sunbeam — Miller 

31 Kitty Mittens and Her Friends— CAaif 
History 

32 Patriotic Stories (Story of the Flag, 

Story of Washington, etc.) — Reiter 
Literature 
23'- Rhyme and Jingle Reader for Beginners 



53 Adventures 
— Mayne 

135 Little People of the Hills (Dry Air and 

Dry Soil Plants)— C/iflii? 
203 Little Plant People of the Waterways— 

Chase 
133 Aunt JIartha's Corner Cupboard— Part 

T Storj^ of Tea aud the Teacup 
137 Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard — Part 

II. Story of Sugar, Coffee and Salt. 
I3S Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard— Part 

III. Story of Rice, Currants and Houey 
History and Biography 

4 Story of Washington — Reiter 
7 Story of Longfellow — McCabe 
21 Story of the Pilgrims — Pozvers 
44 Famous Early Americans (Smith, Stan- 
dish, Penu) — Bush 

54 vStorj' of Columbus — McCabe 

55 Story of Whittier— ^l/cC'a*^ 

57 Storj- of Louisa M. Alcott — Bush 

58 Storj' of Alice and Plioebc C&xy—McFee 

59 Story of the Boston Tea Party -McCabe 
132 Story of Franklin — J'aiis 

60 Children of the Northland — Bush 

62 Childreuof the South Lands,! (Florida, 
Cuba, Puerto Rico) — McFee 

63 Children of the South Lands, II (Africa, 
Hawaii, The Philippines) — McFee 

64 Child Life in the Colonies— I fNew 

Amsterdam ) — Baker 

65 Child Life in the Colonies— II (Pennsyl- 

vania) — Baker 

66 Child Life in the Colonies— III(Virgin- 

ia) — Baker 
68 Stories of the Revolution— I (Ethan 

Allen and the Green Mountain Loysl 
6g Stories of the Revolution— II (Around 

Philadelphia) — McCabe 

70 Stories of the Revolution — III (Marion, 

the .Swamp Fox) — McCabe 

71 Selsctions from Hiawatha (For 3rd, 4th 

and 5th Grades) 
167 Famous Artists, I — Landseer and Eon- 

heur. 
Literature 

67 Storj' of Robinson Crusoe — Bush 

72 Bow-Wow and Mew-Mew — Craik 

233 Poems Worth Knowing-Book I-Primary 

FOURTH YEAR 
Nature 

75 Story of Coal — McKane 

76 Story of Wheat— //n/z/ajr 

77 Story of Cotton — Bio-vn 

78 Stories of the Backwoods — Reiter 

134 Conquests of Little Plant Vea\i\&— Chase 
136 Peeps into Bird Nooks, I — McFee 
181 Stories of the Stairs— McFee 
205 Eyes and No Eyes and the Three Giants 
Continued on third cover 



INSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES 



THE BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 



By Harriet G. T{eiter 




PUBLISHED JOINTLY BY 

F. A. OWEN CO., DANSVILLE, N. Y. 



HALL & MCCREARY, CHICAGO, ILL. 



COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY 

F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING CO. 



The Boyhood of Lincoln 



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tlNCOLNlANA 



The Boyhood of Lincoln 

A great many years ago a brave man found 
his way through a gap in the mountains. He 
stood on the hills and looked over the lovely 
land of Kentucky. There were deep forests 
and open grassy places. Bears and wild turkeys 
and all kinds of game were in the woods. Great 
herds of buffalo roamed over the hills. It all 
looked so peaceful and beautiful that it seemed 
to be prepared by the hand of God for the use 
of man. 

But Indians went on the Avarpath through 
those beautiful forests. They lay in wait along 
the streams with tomahawks ready, for any 
white men who might come to their favorite 
hunting ground. The scaljos of many brave 
hunters hung from their belts. One never knew 
what bush or tree might hide a painted savage. 

The man that stood on the hill and looked 
over this country was Daniel Boone. He w^ell 



4 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

knew all the dano:er that was hidden in the for- 
est. But he loved the blue-^rass fields, the for- 
ests full of game, and the hills. He said the 
Indians should not keep him out, for he was 
going to make his home in Kentucky, in spite 
of them. 

And so he climbed down the hill and went 
into Kentucky. He staid there some time and 
went from place to place. He had always to 
hide from the Indians. He had to walk so as 
to leave no trail. He had to be careful of his 
campfire so it would not smoke while burning, 
and when it was out, to scatter the ashes so as 
to leave no trace. He tried in every way to 
keep the Indians from knowing there was a 
white man near. 

Many times he was in great danger, but at last 
when he was ready to leave the country, he loved 
it more than ever. He felt that nothing would 
keep him from coming back to live there. 
Daniel Boone carried news of this rich country 
back to his friends and neighbors and many de- 
cided to return with him. There were no roads 
across the mountains, and there were but two 
ways to get to this land of Kentucky. They 
could float down the Ohio River, or they could 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 5 

come throug'h a gap in the mountains, and down 
a trail called the Wilderness Road. The Ohio 
River was so dangerous from Indians that few 
chose that way. 

Most of the new settlers came by the Wilder- 
ness Road. Several would come together, as 
that was safer. They carried their goods in 
packs on horses, but it was little that they could 
carry with them. A camp kettle maybe, some 
corn for meal, powder and bullets for their 
rifles, and a little clothing was usually what 
they carried into the now country. Sometimes 
in fording streams, or in Indian attacks, even 
these few tilings were lost. 

Now there was a man in Virginia named 
Abraham Lincoln who lived near the road v.diere 
these i)ioneers passed in going to their new 
homes. They often stopped at his house and 
talked with him, until at last he wanted to go to 
Kentucky, too. He sold his land and made a 
journey there. He stayed several months and 
then came back for his family. We do not know 
how Mr. Lincoln got his wife and four children 
through the gap and down the Wilderness Road, 
but it must have been a very hard ti-ij>, for the 
road was rouii'h and dangerous. 



6 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

The Youno- Lincoln children saw the buffalo 
roaming over the blue-j>:rass fields. These ani- 
mals were not yet afraid of men, for they did 
not know of the white man's «:un. Bands of 
Indians still lurked in the forests, and the set- 
tlers had always to be on guard for their lives. 
The pioneers wore shirts and trousers of buck- 
skin, and coonskin caps made so the tails hung 
down their backs. When the Indians were on 
the warx)ath they could outrun and outfight 
them. 

Abraham Lincoln settled on some land iiear 
the Ohio River. He built his log cabin and 
started to clear his land by cutting down the 
trees. One morning he took his three boys, 
Mordecai, Josiah, and Thomas to work in the 
clearing. They had hardly gotten there when 
a shot rang out fired by an Indian hid in the 
edge of the woods, and Mr. Lincoln fell dead. 

Josiah ran as fast as he could go to the near- 
est foi't for help. Mordecai ran to the cabin for 
a gun. Little Thomas was left by his dead fa- 
ther's side. Mordecai seized a gun and stuck 
it through a crack in the logs. The Indian was 
just ready to carry off little Thomas. The big 
brother had to aim carefully so as not to kill 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 7 

the little fellow. He aimed at a white ornament 
on the Indian's breast and fired. His aim was 
true and the savage fell dead by Mr. Lincoln. 
Thomas Lincoln's life was saved and he became 
the father of our loved President, Abraham 
Lincoln. 

As soon as he was free, the little boy ran to 
the house and to his mother's arms. Men soon 
came from the fort Avith Josiah and the> took 
up the bodies of Mr. Lincoln and the Indian. 
It was sad, indeed, for the family in this new 
country to lose their father. But it was worse 
for little Tom than for any of the rest. 

They had as much as their neighbors, but no 
one at that time owned much but land. Mrs. 
Lincoln soon moved away to another county, 
and Mordecai, the boy who killed the Indian, 
got his father's land. He always hated the In- 
dians bitterly, and it is said, killed many; he 
was well known also as a great story teller. 

But little Thomas grew up very poor. He 
had to go out as a poor w^orking boy before he 
had even learned to read. Indeed he never did 
learn to read, and could only w^rite his name. 
But he was honest, sober, good-natured, and 
loved by every one, though if the truth must 







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BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 9 

bo told, ho iiovor cared to work vory hard. 

After a while he learned to be a carpenter 
and worked about from place to place. He was 
a ^ood carpenter for those days and had a fine 
set of tools. The cabins were built almost all 
with an ax. No nails were used. The lo^s were 
hewn, the doors and rude wooden shutters were 
hung on leather hinges ctnd fastened with 
wooden pins. There was no glass in the win- 
dows but sometimes there was greased paper. 

Mr. Lincoln did not care much for work. 
When some one came and offered him a job he 
would take it and do the work well, but he did 
not go about looking for something to do. 

One of the men he worked for was Mr. Berry. 
Now, Mrs. Berry had a niece, Nancy Hanks, 
w^ho lived with her, and who was a sweet and 
lovely girl. The Hanks family had come from 
Virginia about the same time the Lincolns did.. 
Then Nancy's father -and mother died and a 
family of eight children were left. The children 
were scattered, and Nancy went tolive with her 
aunt. 

There, Tom Lincoln fell in love with her and 
they were married. Would you like to know 
about the wedding? You may be sure it was 



10 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

not much like the weddings now-a-days. In pio- 
neer times Aveddings were rude and boisterous. 
After the Lincohi wedding there was an infare. 
All the neighbors were invited, and even 
strangers who happened to be near. They had 
a great feast of bear meat, venison, wild turkey, 
and ducks. Maple sugar hung from a string 
and when any one wanted a piece for his coffee 
he bit it off. There were great gourds full of 
wild honey, maple syrup, and peaches.. The 
families had roasted a sheep, whole, over a pit 
of coals covered with green boughs to keep the 
juice in. 

The Lincolns went to h()usekeej)ing in a log 
cabin in Elizabethtown. The whole house was 
only as large as a small room, but it was as good 
as the most of their neighbors. Very few people 
at that time in Kentucky had any other than 
log houses. Even the churches and school 
houses were built of logs. 

But cari)enters could not earn much money 
for there were no sawmills to get the lumber 
ready, so Mr. Lincoln decided the next year to 
move his wife and baby girl to a farm. There 
he could kill game for the meat and raise corn 
for the bread. 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 11 

The neiii'libors came and helped I'oll the h)^s 
for the new house. It had one room, one door, 
and one window. A hu.ii,e chimne}" of sticks 
was built outside. The family had a cow and 
calf, a good feather-bed, pots, and kettles. Mrs. 
Lincoln had a loom and wheel which she used 
in makino- the cloth for their clothing. For you 
know at that time every thing had to be made 
at home. People could not go to the store and 
buy cloth as they do now. 

Near the cabin was a spring of clear water 
flowing out of a cleft in the rocks. Forest trees 
shaded the spring, and wild flowers and ferns 
grew about it. In the woods about the cabin 
were deer and Hocks of wild turkeys. 

It was in this log cabin in the woods that a 
little son was born to Thomas and Nancy Lin- 
coln, February 12, 1(S09. The child was named 
Abraham, after his grandfather v.ho had been 
killed by the Indians. 

A happy family lived in that one room. What 
softer cradle could a bal)y have than his 
mother's arms ? And what did the little Lincoln 
children care that they were poor ? They had 
no toys for they had no money to buy them, 
but the country has many pleasures for children 



12 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

which are unknown to those of laro*e places. 

Little Ahe and 8arah played with other chil- 
dren in the shaving's of their father's carpenter 
shop. The}^ picked wild berries and hunted 
coons and squirrels and then they liked to fish. 

One day when Abe was coming- home wath a 
string' of fish he met a soldier. His mother 
had told him he must always be kind to soldiers 
so he gave him his fish and went home w^ithout 
any. 

One of his playmates was named Austin Gol- 
laher and one day Austin saved Abe's life. This 
is the way Mr, Gollaher told the story wdien he 
was an old man: 

'•'''One Sunda}^ my mother visited the Lin- 
colns, and I was taken along. Abe and I plaj^ed 
around all day. Finally we concluded to cross 
the creek to hunt for some partridges young 
Lincoln had seen the day before. The creek 
was swollen by recent rains, and, in crossing 
the narrow footlog, Abe fell in. Neither of us 
could swim. I got a long pole and held it out 
to Abe, who grabbed it. Then I pulled him 
ashore. He was almost dead, and I was badly 
scared. I rolled and pounded him in good 

*L,ife of Abraham Liucolu. — Tarbell. 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN LT 

earnest. Then I got him by the arms and 
shook him, the water pouring out of his mouth. 
By this means I succeeded in bringing him to, 
and he was soon all right. 

"Then a new difficulty confronted us. If our 
mothers discovered our wet clothes they would 
whip us. This Ave dreaded from experience and 
determined to avoid. It was June, the sun 
was very warm, and we soon dried our clothings 
by spreading it on the rocks about us. AVe 
promised never to tell the story, and I never 
did until after Lincoln's death." 

When little Abe was about four years old his 
father moved ttie family to another farm and 
he was started to school. His first teacher ..as 
named Zachariah Riney. The school houses 
then were of logs, and often had no floor but 
the ground. Pegs were driven in the walls and 
boards laid across them for desks. Short logs 
were split in two for benches to sit on. A big 
fireplace kept the room warm. 

Nothing w^as taught in the schools but read- 
ing, writing and "ciphering." Riney could not 
teach his pupils much for he had only one book 
and that was a spelling book. It had easy read- 
in;}: lessons in it also. 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN IS 

It is said that Lincoln studied harder and 
learned faster than any one else in school. 
He got spicewood bushes and hacked thom 
upon a log and burned two or three at a time to 
make a light to see to study by. 

Though there were not any books to be had, 
Mrs. Lincoln knew lots ol' Bible stories, fairy 
stories, and Indian stories. She used to take 
the children on her knee in the evening, when a 
big fire in the fireplace sent bright fianies danc- 
ing up the chimney, and tell them stories. 

In those pioneer times preachers rode about 
from place to place on horseback. They held 
meetings wherever they could, sometimes out 
of doors, and sometimes in log churches. One 
of these preachers was David Elkins, and Abe 
loved him dearly. One of the things that the 
little boy liked to do best was to play at preach- 
ing. He would gather his i)laymates about him 
and preach and pound untU he had them all 
half scared to death. 

The boy had to help his father about the farm 
as soon as he was old enough. When the men 
were working in the fields he carried them 
water. He picked wild berries in the woods. 
One time when they were planting corn, Abo 



16 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

had to drop pumpkin seed in every other hilL 
The next day came a big rain. The water ran 
down the hillside in such torrents that it washed 
corn, and pumpkin seed, and even the dirt itself 
oft of the field. 

Years after, when tliis boy had become a ^Teat 
man, and was President of the United States, 
a visitor at the White House, which was then 
his home, asked: "Mr. President, how would 
you like when the war is over to visit your old 
home in Kentucky?" 

"I would like it very much, " Mr. Lincoln said. 
"I remember that old home very well. Our 
farm was composed of three fields. It lay in 
the valley surrounded by high hills and deep 
gorges. Sometimes when there came a big rain 
in the hills the water would come down through 
the gorges and spread all over the farm." 

Then the told of the time when after they had 
planted the corn in the ''bigfield" — seven acres 
— there came a big rain in the hills though it did 
not rain a drop in the valley, and washed away 
the seed and soil, too. 

When Abraham was seven years old a most 
exciting thing happened. His father moved 
from Kentucky to Indiana. Mr. Lincoln built 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 17 

a raft and loaded his tools and some other 
things on it and floated down the river. But 
alas the raft upset and there were his goods and 
tools in the bottom of the river. However, he 
managed to straighten the raft and get some of 
his things and again start on his journey. 
When he got across the river he hired an ox 
team to take them to the new place. Then he 
went back for his wife and children. 

The family had had to live the best they could 
while the father was gone. They slept on a 
bedticking stuffed with leaves and husks. Abe 
snared game for the dinnerpot and chopped 
wood for the fire. Between times the children 
went to school to Caleb Hazel, who also taught 
school with only one book. 

When Mr. Lincoln got back, they loaded two 
horses with the rest of their goods and set out 
through the forest for the new home. It took 
them seven days to make the journey and each 
day was full of delightful adventures to the 
children. 

At night they slept on a pile of pine boughs, 
in the daytime they had often to cut their way 
with an ax throuirh thickets. Sometimes they 
had to ford streams. They saw many strange 



18 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

birds and animals. It was fortunate that no 
rain fell all the week they were on the way, and 
the nio'hts were cool and pleasant. 

When they came to their new place, they 
chose a grassy knoll in the heart of a bi<>- forest 
for their home. It was late in the autumn, too 
late to build a house. Mr. Lincoln gave Abe an 
ax and set him to work clearing the ground. 
Then they built a li;df-faced camp of posts and 
poles. It was open on one side with only a 
curtain of skins. A stick fireplace was built in 
one end, and in this poor place Abraham Lin- 
coln spent his first winter in Indiana. This 
new home was near Little Pigeon creek, about 
fifteen miles from the Ohio river and one mile 
and a half from a place known as Gentryviile, 
in Spencer county. 

He was now nearly eight years old, and was 
a very tall, long-legged little boy. His mother 
made him linsey-woolsey shirts dyed with 
colors she made herself out of barks and roots. 
His trousers were made of deerskin, and also 
his hunting shirt. His feet were covered with 
moccasins, and his head with a coon skin cap. 
The tail hanging down behind made a nice 
handle by which to carry it. 



. BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 19 

Times were hard, the pioneers had very little 
money, and even if they had had money there 
was no place to buy thinos. They used thorns 
for pins, and buttoned their clothes with pieces 
of cork covered with cloth, or cut out bone but- 
tons. Coffee was made of browned crusts of 
bread, and tea of leaves of some kinds of herbs. 

But there was a salt lick near the Lincoln's 
home and when the deer came there Thomas 
Lincoln could always ^'et plenty of meat. There 
were also wild turkeys, squirrels, and even bears 
thick in the woods. The streams were full of 
fish. One time Abe saw a flock of Avild turkeys 
feedino- near the cabin. He ran in and poked 
his father's rifle out through a crack in the 
walls, took aim and fired. A line turkey fell 
dead. He did not know whether to feel glad or 
sorry. He was glad because he had not missed 
his game, and sorry because he had taken a life. 
He said himself that he never after pulled a 
trigger on any larger game. 

The next year Abe and his father set to work 
to cut down trees and get the logs ready for 
their new cabin. When all was ready the neigh- 
bors for miles around gathered in to help put 
up the cabin. It had one room and a loft above. 



50 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

There was no door, or window, or floor. Not 
even a deer skin hung over the openinj^ nor was 
there any greased paper in the window. 

Mr. Lincohi and Abe mado the furniture. The 
table and chairs were rough slabs of wood set 
up on pegs. In one corner of the cabin was 
built a bed. Only one leg was needed and that 
at the outer corner. A stake was driven in the 
ground and from this, stout poles were fastened 
over to the walls. This made the frame. Split 
"shakes" were laid across this and the bed was 
ready for the mattress. This was filled with 
cornhusks or leaves. Abe slept in tlie loft and 
he climbed nimbly to his place by means of 
pegs driven in the wall, and his poor bed v;as 
only a heap of dried leaves in one corner. They 
had no crockery dishes. What few they had 
were pewter and they also used gourds for 
dishes. The spoons were iron and the knives 
and forks had horn handles. 

Thomas Lincoln tried to raise enough corn for 
cornpone on week days, and enough wheat for 
wheat cakes on Sunday. But it was hard to get 
the corn ground into meal, sometimes it had to 
be grated in a piece of old tin punched full of 
holes. There were not many voirotables raised 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 21 

but potatoes, and sometiDies they were the only 
thing the Lincohis had to eat. It is no wonder 
the children grew tired of them. One time 
wlion there was nothino' else on the table, and 
the father asked a blessing on this poor fare, 
little Abe remarked that "they were mighty 
poor blessings." One of the neighbors said 
that one time when they were spending the 
evening at Lincoln's, potatoes were washed and 
pared and handed around to eat raw as we eat 
apples. Then potatoes had another use. Mrs. 
Lincoln would give the children hot baked 
potatoes to hold in their hands when they went 
to school on bitter cold days. 

In helping to build their house the young 
backwoods bov learned to use a maul, and 
wedge, and axe. His father taught him how to 
"rive'' shingles from a slab of wood, and how to 
split rails out of the logs. Doing this heavy 
work hardened his muscles and made him very 
strong. He lived in the w^oods so much that he 
knew every tree and bush by its bark and leaves 
as far as he could see them. He learned the 
use of all the different kinds of timber. When 
he had time he loved to wander through the 
forest, and all his life he never forgot the beau- 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN AFTER HE BECAME PRESIDENT 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 23 

tifiil thing's he saw there and the lessons Mother 
Kature tau.a,iit him. 

When the Lincohis had been in Indiana two 
years a great sorrow came to them. The chil- 
dren's mother died. After she was taken 
sick her husband and children nursed her the 
best they could, but there was not a doctor to 
be had, or comforts of any kind. When Nancy 
Lincohi died she was buried under a beautiful 
sycamore tree on a grassy knoll. Her husband 
cut down a tree and made the rough pine 
box to lay her body in. There was no preacher 
in that country and no one to say a prayer. 
But many bitter tears were shed by the little 
family when they laid their poor mother away. 

Abe felt so sorry that there had been no 
preacher at his mother's funeral that he with 
much labor wrote his first letter to Daniel 
El kin, the Baptist preacher he had loved so 
dearly in Kentuck}^ At that time a letter 
would be weeks in getting to the person to 
whom it was sent for it had to be carried on 
horseback through the woods. 

When Mr. Elkin got the letter asking him to 
come to Indiana and preach a sermon over 
Nancy Lincoln's grave he sent back word that 



24 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

he would come as soon as he could. The next 
summer when the trees were all out in leaf^ the 
forest green and beautiful, and birds singing in 
the trees the good man kept his promise. 

It was a forlorn little brood of children that 
lived in the Lincoln cabin after Mrs. Lincoln's 
death. Their cousin, Dennis • Hanks, a little 
younger than Abe, lived with them. Their little 
housekeeper was twelve-year-old Sarah Lin- 
coln. The family did not go hungry but the 
children got very ragged. 

Then the next year Thomas Lincoln made a 
journey to Kentucky and brought back with 
him a new mother for his children. This was 
a very fortunate thing for she was a kind and 
good woman and loved the little Lincoln chil- 
dren as she did her own. She had been a 
widow, Mrs. Sally Johnson, formerly Miss Sally 
Bush. Her home had been at Elizabethtown, 
where Thomas Lincoln had first married, and 
she was not a stranger to the children to whom | 
she came as a new mother. She had three chil- 
dren, two girls and a boy, and that made six 
children living in the little cabin. 
• The new Mrs. Lincoln brought a great wagon- ; 
load of furniture with her. You may be sure . 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 25 

little Abe's eyes grew bio- as he saw the fine 
things unloaded. There was a fine bureau with 
drawers of clothing, tables and chairs, and 
dishes. There were blankets, and quilts, and 
a big feather-bed. 

The first thing the new mother did was to 
have a washstand set up by the door, and then 
she cleaned up the children and gave them 
good clothing. Then she got Thomas Lincoln 
to w^ork, and with his carpenter tools he made 
a door for the cabin and fixed a frame with 
greased paper over it for a window. Skins were 
spread over a puncheon floor and the cabin 
looked quite cosy. 

Abe was ten ^^ears old when his father married 
the second time and he was a very tall, strong 
boy for his age. He learned hoAv to do all the 
dilferent things a boy has to know on a farm, 
besides how to use his father's tools. When he 
was not busy at home helping his father he 
hired out to the neighbors. They paid his father 
twenty-five cents a day for his work, but this 
was when he grew older. He was so strong 
that he did not lack for work. He plowed, did 
carpenter work, and helped the women in the 
house. He was always ready to bring buckets 



26 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

of water, or make fires, and even take care of 
the babies. 

But better than anything else, he liked to go 
to mill. The corn had to be carried on horse- 
back a long distance and at the mill each had 
to wait his turn. There, young Lincoln could 
tell and listen to stories and play games Avhile 
waiting his turn. 

But the boy's life was not all work. With 
such a big family of jolly boys and girls there 
was sure to be plenty of mischief and fun. The 
boys went fishing in the evenings and at the 
noon hour they wrestled, and jumped, and ran 
races. It is said he never missed a horse race 
or a fox hunt. In the Avinter evenings the chil- 
dren sat about the fire and told all the stories 
they knew, or they went to spelling matches or 
husking bees. But he was such a good speller 
that he was not allowed to take part in the 
matches, for if he did his side always beat. 

When the three boys, Abraham Lincoln, John 
Johnston, and Dennis Hanks came home from 
the merry-making in the evenings, they climbed 
the ladder to their loft in the cabin. They all 
three slept together, and their bed was so nar- 
row that when one turned over all three had to 
turn. 





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STATUE OF LINCOLN IN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO 



Sairit-Gaiidens 



28 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

Mrs. Lincoln sent the children to school 
Avhenever there was one, which Avas seldom. 
The school which they now had a chance to 
attend was a mile and a half away on Little 
Pigeon Creek. New settlers were coming in 
and a new schoolmaster had come also and 
given them this. All of the children of the Lin- 
coln cabin went to this school and we can ima- 
gine the good times they had together. 

The school house was built of logs, but so 
were the houses from which all of them came. 
Even the new meeting house, which was a grand 
affair for these woods, was built of logs up to the 
gables, and finished out witli sawed boards, 
nearly the first used to any extent in that region. 

Abe, altogether, did not go more than a year. 
-But every spare moment he read and studied. 
His first books were the Bible. .Esop's Fables, 
Robinson Crusoe, and Pilgrim's Progress. 
Some of these he borrowed from the neighbors. 
One time he borrowed a book about Washing- 
ton. He put the book in the loft in a crack 
between the logs. In the night a storm came 
up and the book got wet. He carried the book 
back to the owner and made a bargain with him 
to pull fodder for him three days to pay for the 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 29 

spoiled book. Then the book became his and 
he was o'lad it all happened. 

Abraham read all the books in the neiji:hbor- 
hood and then was not satisfied. He went after 
every book he heard of. He once told some one 
that he read everything; for fifty miles around. 
He also was .2:reat at askin.ii' questions. When 
he was a little fellow he would sit on the fence 
by the side of the road and ask questions of all 
that came by until they were out of hearing. 

From the books he borrowed he wrote down 
things he w^anted to remember. If he had no 
paper he wrote on a board and carried it in his 
pocket until he had learned what he had writ- 
ten. He had no slate or lead pencil so he did 
his sums on a wooden fireshovel with a charred 
stick. When he had the shovel covered he 
shaved the wood off and began again. 

Wlienever he went to work he carried a book 
in his pocket and at every chance out came 
the book and Abe was reading. He had a fine 
chance when he plowed, for at every round he 
had to rest the horses and sometimes had a 
half hour for study. 

When he found the day too short for his school 
studies and th-e work about the farm, he sat up 



30 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

late into the iii.i>:ht readino', the hj2,ht cominj>: 
from the blaze of the "lightwood" fire in the 
fireplace. 

When he was a grown man he made a speech 
on Henry Clay, the great statesman of whom 
in his youth he had thought so much. Among 
other things he said: "His example teaches us 
that one can scarcely be so poor, but that, if he 
wiU, he can acquire sufficient education to get 
through the world respectably." If this was 
true of the life of Henry Clay, it was equally 
true of Abraham Lincoln. And if it Avas true 
then, with the few opportunities for school, 
how much more now with schoolhouses and 
teachers provded for every child. 

The boy was always kind and helpful to every 
one in trouble. Once he carried a worthless 
drunkard on his back a long distance and took 
care of him all night to keep him from freezing. 
He was always talking to his playmates about 
being kind to animals. He was so brave and 
strong himself that the other children listened 
to him and often did as he asked them. 

When he was about seventeen years old, he 
went one day to the court house in a nearby 
county, and heard a great lawyer from Ken- 



BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 31 

tucky make a speech in a trial for murder. It 
was the first great speech he had heard and from 
that time on he practiced making speeches. 
He took up any topic in which the people about 
him were interested in. His father had to stop 
his speeches in work hours, for he said : "When 
Abe begins to speak all hands flock to hear 
him." 

One thing must be said of him, both as boy 
and 3^oung man ; When he began to study any- 
thing, he was not satisfied until he got to the 
bottom of it. He wrote and rewrote all that he 
wanted to commit to memory, and he would 
never give up any hard problem. 

After Lincoln was president and he had been 
so cruelly killed, his stepmother said this about 
him: 

"Abe was a good boy, and I can say Avhat 
scarcely one woman — a mother — can say in a 
thousand. Abe never gave me a cross word or 
look, and never refused, in fact or appearance, 
to do anything I requested him. I never gave 
him a cross word in my life. * * '^' * He was 
a dutiful son to me always. I think he loved 
me truly. I had a son John who was raised 
with Abe. Both Avere good bo^^s; but I must 



SEP 5 1912 

32 BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN 

say that Abo was the best boy I ever saw or 
expect to see." 



History and Biography 

5 .= tory of Liucoln— y?^27^r 
56 Indian Children Tsi\es—Bush 

79 A Little New England Viking— ^a^^-r 

81 Story of VeSoto- //atji/'ld 

82 Story of Daniel Boone — /better 

83 Story of Printing— ^/<:Ca4« 

84 Story of Uavid Crockett— ^ez7<rr 

85 Story of Patrick Henry — Littlefield 

86 American Inventors— I (Whitney and 

Fulton)— ^a>7,s 

87 American Inventors— II (Morse and Edi- 

son)— i^ar/i 
8S American Naval Heroes (Jones, Perrj^, 

1-arragut; — Bush 
89 Fremont and Kit Carson— /»<rfrf 
17S Story of Lexington and Bunker Hill. 
1S2 Story of Joan of Arc — McFee 
Literature 
go Selections from Longfellow — I 

91 Story of Eugene Field — McCabe 

195 Night before Christmas and Other 
Christmas Poems and Stories. 

201 Alice's First Adventures in Wonder- 

land — Carroll 

202 Alice's Further Adventures in Wonder- 

land — Carroll 
207 Famous Artists II— Reynolds— Murillo 
HI Water Babies (Abridged)— AYh^j/O" 
35 Goody Two-Shoes 
103 Stories from the Old Testament— A/<:/^»^ 

FIFTH YEAR 
Nature 

92 Animal Life iu the Sea — McFee 

93 Story of Silk — Brown 

94 Story of Sugar— A"^//^;- 

96 What We Drink (Tea, Coffee and Cocoa) 
139 Peeps into Bird Nooks, 11— ^[cFee 

210 Snowdrops and Crocuses — Mann 
History and Biography 
16 Explorations of the Northwest 

80 Story of the Cabots — McBtide 

97 Story of the Norsemen — Hanson 

98 Story of Nathan \ia.\<i— McCabe 

99 Story of Jefferson — McCabe 
100 Storj' of Bryant — McFee 

loi Story of Robert E. 1,'^e—McKane 

105 Story of Canada — Dous:las 

106 Story of Mexico — McCabe 

107 Story of Robert LouisSteveuson — Bush 
141 Story of Grant — McKane 

144 Story of Steam — McCabe 

145 Story of McKinley — McBride 

179 Story of the Flag — Baker 

190 Story of Father Hennepin — McBride 

191 Story of LaSalle — McBride 

185 Story of tlie First Crusa.6.ei— Mead 

217 Story of Florence Nightingale — McFee 

218 Story of Peter Coope^r—Mc Fee 
no Story of Hawthorne — McFee 
232 Story of Shakespeare 

Literature 

8 King of the Golden River — Ruskin 

9 The Golden Touch — Hawthorne 

108 History in Verse (Sheridan's Ride, In- 

dependence Bell, etc.) 

180 Story of Aladdin audof Ali Baba — Lewis 
183 A Dog of Flanders— £)« la Ramee 



184 The Nuruberg Stova — De la Rani <■ 
1S6 Heroes from King Arthur — Giaincs 
194 Whittier's Poems. Selected. 

199 Jackanapes — Ewing 

200 Tlie Child of Urbiuo — De la Ramee 
2c8 Heroes of Asgard — Selections--AVa» r 
212 Stories from Robin Hood — Bush 

234 Poems Worth Knowing — Book II — Inter- 
mediate 

SIXTH YEAR 
Nature 
109 Gifts of the Forest (Rubber, Cinchona. 

Resin, etc.) — McFce 
Geography 

114 Great European Cities — I (London anl 

Paris) — Bush 

115 Great European Cities — II (Rome and 

Berliui— i?;(iA 

168 Great European Cities— III (St. Peters- 
burg aud Coustaniiuople) — Bush 

History and Biography 

116 Old English Heroes (Alfred, Richard the 

Liou-Hea:ted, The Black Prince) 

117 Later English Heroes (Cromwell, Well- 

ington, Gladstone) — Bush 

160 Heroes of the Revolution — Tiisfiant 
163 Storie.s of Courage— i)'«j/( 

187 Lives of Webster aud Clay — Tiisiram 
1S8 Story of Napoleon — Bush 
189 Stories of Heroism — Bush 

197 Story of Lafa3-ette — Bush 

198 Story of Roger Willianif. — Leigliton 
209 Lewis and Clark Expedition- Herndon 
219 Story of Iowa — McFee 

224 Story of William Tell — Hallock 
Literature 

10 The Snow Image— Ha7othorne 

11 Rip Van Winkle — Jrziug 

12 Legend of Sleejiy Hollow — Irving 
22 Rab aud His Friends — Biown 

24 Three Golden Apples — Ha-vthorne 

25 The Miraculous I'itcher — Hawthorne 

26 The Minotaur — Haivlhorne 

119 Bryant's Tlianatopsis and Other Poems 

120 Selections from Longfellow— II 

121 Selections from Holmes 

122 The Pied Piper of Hamelin — Bro7eni)is: 

161 The Great Carbuncle, Jlr. Higgin- 

botham's Catastrophe, Snowflakes — 
Hawtliorne 
102 The Pygmies— //a-<7/;o>«^ 

222 Kingsiey's Greek Heroes — Part I. The 

Story of Perseus 

223 Kingsiey's Greek Heroes — Part II. The 

Story of Theseus 

225 Tennyson's Poems— For various grades 
229 Responsive Bible Readings — Zellcr 

SEVENTH YEAR 
Literature 

13 Courtship of Miles Staudish 

14 Evangeline — Longfellow 

15 Snow Bcuud — IVhittier 

20 The Great Stone Face—Hait'tho) >ie 

123 Selections from Wordsworlli 

124 Selections from Shelley and Keats 

125 Selections from Merchant of Vcipce 
147 Story of King Arthur as told bj' Tenny- 
son- //iz//oc^ 

Continued on next page 



INSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES— Continued 



,49 Man Without a Country, Thc-^a/. , X4. |-lV.|arof't'h'e\^ak7-Caa^J II 
Z ISfo J/Fro^\Klietch Book. 1^3 lujldiug o/the Ship and Other Poems- 

196 The Gray Chs.rnpion-Hau'tkorne HoraUu' Ivrv The ArmaAa-Maca,<Iay 

213 Poems of Thomas Moore-belected 148 !?°'^t ' Vrni Addres7-^elections from 

J Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare-select- 150 Bunker Hm ^ddres. Select.o^^^.^^_ 



231 The Oregon Trail(Condensed from Park- 
man) 
23S Lamb's Adventures of Ulj'sses— Part I 
239 Lamb's Adventures of Ulysses— Part II 

EIGHTH YEAR 

Literature 

17 Enoch Arden—7>«w>'J0« 

18 Vision of Sir l^aMufal— Lowell 

19 Cotter's Saturday flight— Burns 
23 The Deserted ViUage—Goldsruith 

126 Rime of the Ancient Mariner 

127 Gray's Elegy and Other Poems 

128 Speeches of Lincoln 

129 Selections from Julius Caesar 

1^0 Selections from Henry the Eighth 
ni Selections from Macbeth 



the Adams and Jefferson Oration 

Webster 
i-ii Gold Bug, The— 7*0^ 
153 Prisoner of Chillon and Other Poems— 

By yon 

155 Rhoecus and Other Poems— /.orff// 

156 Edgar Allan Poe— Biography and Se- 

lected Poems— i-z«^ 
158 Wasiiington's Farewell Address and 
Other Papers 

169 Abram Joseph Ryan— Biography and 

Selected Poems— 5?M J //i , » ^ 

170 PaulH. Hayne— Biography and Selected 

Poems — Link 
-"I"; Life of Samuel Johnson— Aracfl"/«v 
2n Sir Roger de Coverly Papers- /J rf</|io« 
237 Lav of the Last Minstrel— 5co«. Intro- 
duction and Canto I 



Annotated Classics and Supplementary Readers 

T„ ari^itin,, to the Five Cent books given above the Instructor Series includes the 

lan- 



25 



250 Evangeline. Longfellow. With bio- 
graphical sketch, historical introduc- 
tion oral and written exercises aud 
notes I0,c 

251 Courtship of Miles Standish. Longfel- 
' low. With Introduction and Notes. lOc 

^S2 Vision of Sir Launfal. Lowell. Biograph- 
ical sketch, introduction, notes, ques- 
tions and outlines for study 10c 

Enocti Arden. Tennyson. Biographi- 
cal sketch, introduction, explanatory I 
notes, outlines for study and questions 

10c 

7S4 Great Stone Face, iiawthome. Bio- 
" graphical sketch, introduction, notes, 

questions and outlines for study lOc 

354 Criclcet on tlie Heartli. Chas. Dickens. 

Complete • •"*^ 

2S5 Browning's Poems. Selected poems 

^ with notes and outlines for study. . . lOc 

2';6 Wordswortli's Poems. Selected poems 

^ with introduction, notes aud outlines 

for study ,-J' • V," -^ ■ 

Sohrab end Rustum. Arnold. With in- 
troduction, notes and outlines tor 
study >"<= 



257 



mary grades, with explanations, 
guage exercises, outlines, written and 
Sral work, with selected poems. By 
Lillie Paris, Ohio Teachers College, 
Athens, Ohio • • • • "•.•••,-'"/ 

259 A Cliristmas Carol. Charles Dickens. 
Complete • ' " ' " 5 

260 Familiar Legends. Inez N. McFee. A 
book of old tales retold for young 
people • • • • ; 1 • •»"*= 

261 Some Water Birds. Inez N. McFee. 
Description, habits, and stories of, for 
Fourth to Sixth grades •.••'"*= 

^50 Hiawatha. Longfellow. With intro- 
duction and notes V 'J •;•";? 

352 Milton's ninor Poems. Edited by i-y- 
rus Lauiou Hooper. Biographical 
sketch aud introdiiction, with explana- 
tory notes and questions for study; criti- 
cal comments and pronouncing vocab- 
ulary of proper names ;•. *: 

353 Silas Marner. Eliot. Biographical 
sketch, numerous notes, questions loi 
study critical comments aud bibliog- 
rapliv, by Hiram R. Wilson, Stale 
Noru'ial College, Athens, O. 230 pages. 

I Paper ^n^ 

In cloth binding '*"C 



-'SS The Children's Poet. A study of Long- 
fellow's poetrv for children of the pri- 

F. A. OWEN CO. Dansville, N. V. 
HALL & McCREARY, Chicago, Hh 



Published Jointly by 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



III iiiiiiiiiiii I I III III 
011 933 192 4 



